Sometimes we wonder why we still gain weight even though we eat healthy food and exercise regularly. Maybe it isn’t the food that we eat that triggers weight gain, maybe it’s how we eat. Small things can make great changes to our body.

Mindless Eating – We do this every time we are distracted when we’re eating our meals. Mindless eating often leads us to consume more food. Thus, it can be a stumbling block to our effort in losing weight.

If we are conscious of what we are eating and go about to planning our diets, we should also consider where and how we eat. This generally means, avoiding loud or distracting noises during meals and emphasis should be made on this.

Studies on mindless eating/distracted eating and focusing on the sound made while eating has been a research topic for quite some time now. According to researchers from Brigham Young University and Colorado State University, turning off the T.V. during dinner or eating your lunch at a quiet place is actually good for you. The sound you make and hear during eating actually has effects on how much you eat and the calories you consume during meals.

When you mask the sound of consumption, like when you watch TV while eating, you take away one of those senses and it may cause you to eat more than you would normally. The effects many not seem huge–one less pretzel–but over the course of a week, month, or year, it could really add up.

This is called “Crunch Effect.” The more conscious you are of the sound your food makes while eating, the more you reduce how much you eat. This is according to Gina Mohr and Ryan Elder, assistant professors at BYU. You could actually decrease your calorie intake as much as 25%.

Avoid multi-tasking when you’re eating. It can lead you to eat at a faster pace and feel less satisfied, which may, in turn, lead you to make poor food choices.

How to start eating with FOCUS

Plan your meal the night ahead so you won’t rush when you wake up. Ensure that you have enough time that would enable you to eat your breakfast at your table rather than in the car or on your way to work.

Eat your lunch outside the office, preferably in a nearby park if the weather is great. Listening to the sound of nature than the noise of your computer is more beneficial for you.

Eating dinner together with your family also allows you to eat healthier meals and consuming fewer useless calories.

The heart of the matter is satisfaction: focusing on what you eat leads to satisfaction, which in this case means being “full”; satisfaction, in turn, leads to lesser food intake hence losing weight.